Woolfolk nets career best as UWA beats UWF

LIVINGSTON – Jared Woolfolk posted a career high of 25 points to lead West Alabama to its conference season high of points and a 96-73 victory over West Florida in Gulf South Conference basketball action Saturday at Pruitt Hall.

UWA improved to 12-8 overall and 9-5 in the GSC. The Argonauts fell to 3-15 and 2-10.

“Overall we played very well,” UWA head coach Mark Downey said.

“We shot the ball much better tonight. We didn’t do a good job at the free-throw line, and I hate to see that. Saturday afternoon games can be really tricky. We just wanted to come out ready to play and play for all 40 minutes. They pressed us at the end and caused about 10 turnovers, when we only had two at the half. We got to play a lot of guys tonight and get them some experience.”

Woolfolk set his record, shooting 9-of-12 from the field and 7-of-9 from the 3-point arc. Sandy Underwood and Desmond Raymond followed with 14 points each. Raymond’s performance gave him 500 total points in his two seasons at UWA. He also posted six assists and two steals.

Lleon Tillman fell one point shy of his sixth double-double of the season with 11 rebounds and nine points. Demetrius Powe also tallied nine points, setting his career best.

West Florida took a five point lead in the opening three minutes of the game, but never led again. The Tigers jumped ahead 49-23 at the break with a 3-pointer from DeMarco Spears as time expired before the break. UWA led by as many as 36 in the second half.

Ellis Young and Nate Johnson each posted 20 points to lead the Argonauts scoring efforts. Terrance Townes finished with 12 points.

West Alabama remains at home to take on West Georgia on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in Pruitt Hall.

“West Georgia was a dog fight for us on the road earlier in the season,” Downey said. “We just need to continue to take care of business. We done a great job of protecting our house this season, especially in conference, and we just have to keep getting better.”

The game can be heard on ESPN 104.9 and ESPN1049.com.